The fourth book in the page-turning SPELLSLINGER fantasy series. Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.

And that’s the blurb – well, you can’t fault the publisher for giving away any crucial plotpoints here, can you? I’m interested in the line-up of authors that are compared to de Castell, because they all have initially humorous, often quite bouncy stories that steadily get darker and grimmer as the series wears on. Up to this point, the Spellsinger series kept the humour going, mostly provided by that pesky squirrel cat. But while Kellen’s caustic comments still are evident during Soulbinder – this is the book where the stakes are upped even further, there is even more mayhem, bloodshed and emotion. And yet, right at the end, back comes the humour, which I often loathe in TV series, but this time around, breathless and a tad hollowed out by all the excitement and the loss of characters I’ve grown fond of – something de Castell regularly does – it was a huge relief.

In this slice of the adventure, we learn more about the shadowblack – the disease that has marked Kellen and forced him to be outcast as the black markings around his eye will eventually cause him to be possessed by a terrible demon and start killing all those around him. The magical society he is born into, the Jan’Tep, abhor and fear all those with shadowblack, regarding them as monsters and mages can earn respect by tracking and killing those with a bounty on their head. I appreciated learning more about exactly what others infected by shadowblack feel about their affliction as Kellen encounters those like himself.

The action builds to a really exciting climax and the pages flipped past far too quickly as I couldn’t put this one down – de Castell has a knack of leading us from one engrossing adventure to another, without losing any depth in the characterisation or allowing the pacing to become too repetitive, which is harder to do than he makes it look.

And despite reading two books in this series within a week of each other – see my review of Charmcaster– I didn’t find the experience diminished my enjoyment of Soulbinder, which is a real testament to the writing skill of de Castell, who goes on delivering humour, shocks and plot-twists throughout this engrossing series. Highly recommended for fans of adventure fantasy featuring cool magical systems.
9/10

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.

It’s been a week of catching up and becoming ill… I really loved my writing retreat and for the first few days when I returned, I was very good about getting a reasonable amount of sleep. And then my old bad habits surfaced and I found myself working into the early hours again. But this time around, it was an increasing struggle to surface in the morning and my sciatica has been niggling away. And by Thursday my body had had enough. What I initially thought was a stomach bug wasn’t. I felt sick and giddy when I got out of bed and yet once I lay down again, I was feeling a lot better. Friday was still a battle to get showered without being ill.

By the afternoon, I was well enough to sit at the computer and work and do a bit of light housework so long as I wasn’t moving around too much. I think I’ve simply hit the buffers and now urgently need to address my dysfunctional sleep patterns. I’m relieved that I have half term coming up – but I do think that I need to ease back on all my dashing about and just concentrate on resting, rebalancing my life and sorting out my sleep! Sorry – I’m aware this has been a REALLY boring post!

Due to spending some time in bed waiting for the world to stop spinning, I’ve been catching up on my reading:

Together by Julie Cohen
This is not a great love story.
This is a story about great love.
On a morning that seems just like any other, Robbie wakes in his bed, his wife Emily asleep beside him, as always. He rises and dresses, makes his coffee, feeds his dogs, just as he usually does. But then he leaves Emily a letter and does something that will break her heart. As the years go back all the way to 1962, Robbie’s actions become clearer as we discover the story of a couple with a terrible secret – one they will do absolutely anything to protect.This was recommended to me by one of my students and I’m so glad that I finally got around to reading it. A haunting, thought-provoking book that raises uncomfortable questions about the importance we place on romantic love in our society…

Headlong – a Bill Slider mystery by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
When one of London’s best-known literary agents is found dead in strange circumstances, having fallen headlong from his office window, DCI Slider is under pressure from the Borough Commander to confirm a case of accidental death. But when the evidence points to murder, Slider and his team find themselves uncovering some decidedly scandalous secrets in the suave and successful Ed Wiseman’s past.
I really enjoyed the previous book, Shadow Play, I read in this series and was delighted when I saw this Netgalley arc available. Once again it delivered a cracking whodunit – review to follow in due course.

Soulbinder – Book 4 of the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell
The fourth book in the page-turning SPELLSLINGER fantasy series. Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.Another wonderful magical adventure featuring Kellen, full of high emotion, sarky humour and lots of high-stakes action. This series is now one of my all-time favourite fantasy treats. Review to follow.

Caraval – Book 1 of the Caraval series by Stephanie Garber
Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over. But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives.I loved the twisting plot and sense of never knowing exactly who poor old Scarlett can and cannot trust – and to think that she’s been waiting to take part in this magical madness for seven years!

Bloodfire – Book 1 of the Blood Destiny series by Helen Harper
Mack might be, to all intents and purposes, a normal looking human, but she lives with a pack of shapeshifters in Cornwall in rural England after being dumped there by her mother when she was just a young child. She desperately wants to be accepted by her surrogate family, not least because a lot of them hate her for merely being human, but for some reason her blood just won’t allow the transformation to occur.This paranormal, shapeshifter adventure is a lot of fun – just what I needed to whisk me away from my sick giddiness, to the extent that I immediately turned to the next book in the series, something I don’t often do.

Bloodmagic – Book 2 of the Blood Destiny series by Helen Harper
After escaping the claws of Corrigan, the Lord Alpha of the Brethren, Mack is trying to lead a quiet lonely life in Inverness in rural Scotland, away from anyone who might happen to be a shapeshifter. However, when she lands a job at an old bookstore owned by a mysterious elderly woman who not only has a familiar passion for herbal lore but also seems to know more than she should, Mack ends up caught in a maelstrom between the Ministry of Mages, the Fae and the Brethren.Yet more shapeshifting mayhem – I do like the character of Mack, though the romance aspect of this story surfaced more strongly in this slice of the adventure, which is fine – though not necessarily what I was looking for.

Dreamer’s Pool – Book 1 of the Blackthorn and Grim series by Juliet Marillier
In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she’ll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help.I really enjoyed the fact that this medieval high fantasy romantic adventure features a cranky middle-aged woman with agency and a skill that makes her independent. The story pulled me into the book, though on reflection, there were some aspects of the portrayal of women’s sexuality that rather bothered me, which I will discuss further in the review…

Does It Make Sense? http://chechewinnie.com/does-is-it-make-sense/Cheche is asking hard questions about the plants chosen for green landscaping around cities in his native Kenya – but it made me look more closely at the plants adorning our local towns. And I realise hardly any of them are indigenous, either…

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:

Soulbinder – Book 4 in the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell

56% Ghilla came and gave me a gentle kick in the shin. ‘We ain’t so bad, boy. You’ll see.’

What do you do in the face of something you’ve never earned but always wanted? I held the bundled shirt with the bones inside it under my arm tightly, as if doing so was somehow an act of resistance against their kindness. It didn’t work though, because after a few moments my traitorous mouth opened, and I said, ‘Take me home.’

BLURB: The fourth book in the page-turning SPELLSLINGER fantasy series.

Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.

Even grumpy old me can’t rant about that blurb being too much of a spoiler, can I?

I recently read and loved Charmcaster so Himself stumped up and treated me to this one as a belated birthday treat – no wonder I love him so… And once again, I’ve been caught up in Kellen’s adventures full of danger, emotion and humour. This is certainly one of my favourite fantasy series of the year.